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I hated having it, too, when I did....drink LOTS of water, try to walk when you can, and take your meds. It also helps if you elevate the head of your bed. Did they give you a nebulizer? The breathing treatments help a lot--feel better soon! Love, Kathy

Bless you - it is so confusing when you get mixed signals from the doctors and nobody seems to know what's going on. One thing you have to remember with "pneumonia" is that it's a general term for any type of infection in the lung - it isn't really a specific disease. There are at least 30 different "bugs" known to cause pneumonia - they fall generally into five different classes - bacteria, viruses, mycoplasms, other organisms like fungi, and certain chemicals can all cause "pneumonia". Pneumonia caused by mycoplasms (sometimes called "walking pneumonia") can be mild and often doesn't need treatment other than rest; some viral pneumonias cause flu-like symptoms while others make you very sick; and many bacterial pneumonias can make severely ill and may need hospital treatment. Unfortunately with any of the pneumonias, you can continue to feel week and sick for a long time after the chest x-ray clears up. So if you were in the late stages of a viral pnuemonia, it's possible for your chest x-ray to be clear even though you still feel awful. But it's equally possible that the hospital didn't get a good film and didn't bother to repeat it. So if you are still feeling sick, especially if you're having chest pain or shortness of breath, it's probably a good idea to go back to your primary care doctor, who is most familiar with your condition and the most likely to pick up on any changes. Sorry you are having such a tough time - the doctor-go-round can be almost as bad as the lupus.